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  • Surprised by Joy

  • C. S. Lewis Signature Classic
  • Written by: C. S. Lewis
  • Narrated by: Peter Noble
  • Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (46 ratings)

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Surprised by Joy

Written by: C. S. Lewis
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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Publisher's Summary

For many years an atheist, C. S. Lewis vividly describes the spiritual quest that convinced him of the truth and reality of Christianity, in his famous autobiography.

"In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God...perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." Thus Lewis describes memorably the crisis of his conversion.

Surprised by Joy reveals both that crisis and its momentous conclusion that would determine the shape of Lewis' entire life.

©1955 C. S. Lewis Pte Ltd (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What the critics say

"He is admirably equipped to write spiritual autobiography for the plain man, for his outstanding gift is clarity. You can take it at two levels, as straight autobiography, or as a kind of spiritual thriller, a detective's probing of clue and motive that led up to his return to the Christianity he had lost in childhood." (Isabel Quigley, Sunday Times)

What listeners say about Surprised by Joy

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Fantastic, Interesting, Inspiring

The best reading of Lewis's story as I've been able to find on Audible. Peter Noble has a voice that is expressive and able to change 'character' when need be, but which is likewise able to read a lot of thoughtful exposition without boring the reader, and in fact achieves the opposite. So yeah; this comes highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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A great summary

A great introduction to the life of C.S. Lewis and how he came to faith. Well worth a read.

1 person found this helpful

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enjoyable to listen to

it's book where you need to pay attention to full enjoy how beautifully he writes and explains his experience and thoughts.

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Lovely!

Felt like sitting by the knee of an ancestor, by the fire. Deeply fascinating. Thank you.

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I really enjoyed the story

I am new to CS Lewis. I listened to the 7 Narnia Books in August and loved them. I really like Peter Noble’s voice, he was great to listen to. I started this, this morning and listened to it in one sitting.

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Accomplishes what Lewis sets out to do

An enjoyable autobiographical story describing Lewis's quest for joy and it's substance. The narrator's performance was fantastic and brought the book alive.

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  • Kerry
  • 2017-03-22

A lot to digest

I enjoyed listening to tge story of Lewis's conversion and I thought it was well read. But I found it difficult to digest in this format. I would have got more out of it if I had read it myself.